1. Field of the Invention
The invention is in the field of winch handles, especially winch handles for sail boats.
2. Related Art
From ancient times sailors concerns have included the secure stowage of equipment and also quick a secure adjustment of ropes (“lines”) on winches, capstans, cleats and the like. Modern sailboats have augmented the ease with which a sailor can adjust lines, stays or halyards by incorporating winches into the rigging. Sail line winches, like other winches, use internal gearing to magnify the manual power a sailor needs to apply to the winch drum for taking in a line bearing a load. Such winches include a drum and a handle. One end of the rotatable drum is attached to the deck. At the other end of the drum is a handle which the sailor uses to manually turn the winch. The handle may be permanently attached or, more often, removable.
In order to have leverage, a winch handle must necessarily be longer than the diameter of the winch it is turning. However, the presence of a long winch handle on the winch interferes with the use of the winch in that the line can become tangled in the handle when the line is being taken in, taken out or otherwise adjusted. The problem is exacerbated when the line is under load. An initial winding on of the line would require the line to be taken around the outside of the length of the handle. Pay out of the line under tension, if tangled in the handle, can lead to failure to execute necessary maneuvers. There can even be a safety issue if a winch is released to spin while a handle is still on it.
The prior art has endeavored to address these problems with removable handles. With the handle off, a winch with line on it can be taken in, let out, have the line slipped off of the winch in an axial direction, or otherwise be put to use without interference or tangling in a handle. However, removable handles create a different problem in that it may not be convenient to stow them when not in use. Loose handles on the deck, or even in storage slots or spaces provided for them, are more prone to loss, safety problems or difficulty of access when needed. There is a need in the art for a winch handle that remains attached to the winch, but is nevertheless removable to a position that does not interfere with uses of the winch that do not require the handle.
Several prior art attempts to deal with these problems involve a winch handle that recesses into an axial sleeve in a non-standard winch. See, U.S. Pat. No. 3,536,299 to McCloud et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,391,432 to Baud; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,531,715 to Weins, for example. Chief among the insufficiencies of these prior art winches is that they require a through hole in the deck of the sailboat in order to allow sufficient room for the stowed winch handle to recess. Unnecessary through holes in deck and hull are always discouraged in nautical design.
There remains a need in the art for a winch with an attached handle that stows in a manner sufficiently compact that it allows quick and efficient interaction between the winch and a line when the winch is put to uses that do not require the handle. Moreover, since there are in use today many winches having sockets for receiving removable handles, there is a need in the art for a retro-fittable winch attachment that incorporates a cleanly stowable, attached winch handle into the preexisting winch.